Blood Lines
by angelkisses87
Summary: The trust between the Winchester family is pushed when Dean is infected with a demonic virus.
1. Chapter 1

**Blood Lines**

**Disclaimers: I don't own Supernatural or its characters.**

**Theme: Drama, Angst, Violence, Supernatural**

**Rating: M**

**Characters: Dean, Sam, Lola, Maggie.**

**Chapter One:**

"Man I feel like crap." Dean's nasal voice spoke from under a thick navy blue duvet, "I feel like I've had this flu for a month."

"It's been a week Dean." Lola sighed, rolling up a pair of jeans before tucking them inside one of her black canvas holdalls. With a grunt Dean lifted his head slowly, before whipping the duvet off his hot body, rubbing at his neck soothingly as he swung his legs to the edge of the bed. "God my head in killing me."

"Aww has poor Dean got the sniffles?" Maggie cooed teasing her older brother; Lola stifled a laugh as she continued to pack her things,

"Shut up." He sulked as he rose from the bed before making his way to the kitchen counter at the end of the hotel room,

"Here." Sam tossed a pack of asprin in Dean's direction from his spot against the counter, a bowl of cereal in balanced in one hand, smiling at his brother's surly expression.

With shaking hands, Dean twisted the stainless steel tap, filling a small glass tumbler with cold water. He was about to take a sip, when the glass slipped out of his hand sending it crashing to the floor, "Damn it." He grumbled, crouching down to pick up the smashed cup, Raising his eyes to the sealing Sam placed his bowl onto the counter before kneeling down to lend a hand,

"Crap." The two boys exclaimed in unison, Sam holding his thumb to his mouth his lips and Dean holding his hand out, blood trickling down from his palm. Eye's raised to the ceiling, Lola moved towards the kitchen, grabbing a tea towel from the counter before rapping it tightly around Dean's hand, which was now oozing blood,

"For the love of god, who picks up glass with their bare hands?" Maggie sighed, moving passed Sam; she scrambled round in a low cupboard, pulling out a cracked plastic dustpan and brush. "You'd better wash that under the tap, both of you." She instructed the two older boys, as the she tossed the broken shards into a nearby bin,

Lola helped Dean rise to his feet, moving over to the sink, removing the towel he held in under the tap, looking at the gash with a concerned frown, "Maggie this looks pretty deep."

"Lets see." The youngest of the four looked at her brother's hand, taking it in hers to get a better look at the extent of the injury, "Yeah that's going to need stitches, we'd better get you to a hospital."

"Great." Dean replied dryly, as he looked down at his bloody hand, "Ah ah, not so tight." He cringed,

"Dean it has to be tight that's the whole point, unless you want to bleed to death,"

"Its not that bad…"

"It's two hours drive to the local hospital and that cut is bleeding pretty fast." Maggie insisted, tying a knot strategically placed at the top of the wound so as to add more pressure to the wound,

"Right, Sam you okay to drive?" The ex nurse asked over her shoulder as she finished up the somewhat ill equipped first aid treatment,

"Yeah sure." He replied, holding up the keys in confirmation as he headed for the door,

"Lola, you're gonna need to keep pressure on this okay." She added, waiting for the auburn haired girl to take over from her, before removing her own hand,

"Got it." Lola agreed, pressing down on the makeshift bandage, guiding Dean out by his arm, following the others out the door, Maggie pulling it shut behind her.

"Just one more Mister Winchester and then we're all done here." A young male doctor informed the surprisingly squeamish hunter, looking away from his hand that was being sewn together with staple like stitches,

'I cant believe you're afraid of this." Maggie commented, a tone of surprise and slight amusement in her voice,

"Hey, you could put me in the most haunted building in America and I'll get on with the job no problem…but hospitals…they just scare the crap outta me." Dean replied, holding up his one free hand in defence,

The slim built doctor arched one eyebrow, slightly puzzled by the conversation as he wrapped a soft white bandage around Dean's hand before tidying his medical instruments away on a small steel tray, "Right, Mister Winchester, I'll write you out a prescription for some painkillers and you can be on your way."

"Thanks…Doc…" Dean wheezed as he coughed into his undamaged hand, cringing as he felt his chest tighten slightly,

"That's sounds nasty, how long have you had that?" The doctor asked, removing a blue stethoscope from around his neck before pulling up Dean's shirt and holding the cold metal against his back,

"About a month." Dean replied, clearing his sore throat, taking a deep breath in and out upon instruction,

"Hmm there is a definite wheeze there." The doctor mused, "And is it just the cough you've got or have you had other symptoms?" He enquired, draping his stethoscope around the white collar of his long lab coat,

Maggie and Lola couldn't help but raise their eyes to the ceiling at the young man's question, having tried to convince Dean for the past several weeks that it was just a cold,

Dean, saw their sceptic looks and retuned them with a withering gaze before turning to the doctor to answer his question, "I've been getting fevers on and off and headaches…although my dear sister and her friend over there thought that I was over reacting."

"It wasn't that you were over reacting, it just to be a universal guy thing, a woman gets ill…life goes on, jobs get done, a man has a cold and the whole world stops." Lola replied with a sigh,

"Although we were concerned when he said he was off his food." Maggie chimed in,

"Oh yeah then we were worried."

"Hey gimmie a break...Sam would you help me out here?" Dean protested, turning to his brother who was sat in a chair next to the bed, stifling a laugh at the girls' comments,

"Sorry Dean...they do have a point, usually you eat anything and everything."

"You see what I have to put up with!" He exclaimed, dumfounded by the personal digs being fired at him, he turned to the doctor, pointing at his not so supportive family unit,

"While your friend is right about the men being sick theory, I' am concerned that you've been ill for this long, even a flue virus doesn't last this long…"

Dean looked up at the two girls with a triumphant smile, they looked back at him with concerned faces, gone was their cheeky grins, having realized that the doctor was being quite serious with his worries, "I'm going to take a blood test, see if you haven't picked up another virus whilst you had the cold." The doctor turned to a stainless steel cabinet behind him, pulling out a disposable tray, fresh pair of gloves and two plastic packages, one containing a small vile and the other a syringe and needle. Dean's face went a sick pale white as he watched the needle emerge from its protective sterile wrapping,

"Dean…Dean…" Lola spoke calmly; moving closer to snap him out of his fearful daze, "Don't look." She said, taking his hand in hers, the older hunter squeezed almost immediately onto Lola's slender fingers, swallowing hard as his eyes quickly darted to his left, spotting Sam covering his mouth to stop himself from laughing again. Dean was about to yell at his brother when he felt the sharp prick of the needle break his skin, and before he had a chance to say anything, it was over.

"Okay, I'll get these off to the lab and we should get the results in a couple of days." The young doctor straitened up on his stool, wheeling backwards across the room to throw away the used latex gloves before rising to his feet, picking up the vile filled with the crimson coloured liquid before dropping it into a small plastic bag, scribbling Dean's name onto a label on the front. "If you feel your symptoms are getting worse or you having trouble with your stitches, just call the front desk and ask to be put through to Doctor Woods."

"Thanks doc." Sam smiled, extending a hand to the young medic,

"No problem." He nodded with a smile, shaking the tall brunet's hand before turning out of the small cubical of the emergency ward.

"I told you I was sick." Dean commented, looking at Sam with a satisfied look of triumph,

"Come on, let's get your meds." Sam sighed, ushering his older brother out of the room, exchanging exasperated looks with Lola and Maggie as they followed behind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:**

"What'cha readin'?" Sam crossed legged next to Sam on the single bed in the fifties style motel room, looking over his over shoulder at the newspaper he had opened up in front of him,

"Just seeing if there are any small jobs the three of us could work." He answered, his eyes darting across the black and white printed page, "I don't think Dean's really up to it, but I'm going a bit stir crazy just sitting here."

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen you so eager to go on a hunt." Maggie replied, one eyebrow arched in surprise,

"Yeah I guess not, I don't know since the tumour I guess I've been wanting to make more of my time you know." Sam looked up from his paper to look at his sister who looked back with a weak smile, "I guess things have been a bit different this past month." Sweeping her chocolate brown waves behind her shoulder, she dangled her legs over the edge of the bed, "Especially with the dying man over there." She joked tilting her head to the left where Dean was lying stretched out on the matching twin bed opposite them, Sam chuckled quietly, "Well my outburst didn't exactly help much."

"Sam will you stop apologizing for that already, I've told you I don't hold it against you." The youngest sibling reassured her big brother, "I mean it's not ever just going to be forgotten and go away… but what's done is done…it wasn't your fault." Sam smiled weakly, Maggie was right what happened four weeks ago was never going to just go away, he could never forgive himself for what he put his little sister through, the terrible things he said, not just to her but to Lola and Dean also,

"Come on lets see what you got." Maggie finally said, sensing that her brother was about to go into another self-destructive spiral about the previous events, leaning an arm over his shoulder she read the obituary Sam had circled in red, "Patricia Mason, died Monday of last week in the early hours of the morning."

"There's a column about it on the front page too." Sam turned the large flimsy pages, folding it to a more manageable size before reading out the article, "While police are certain that her death was due to blunt force trauma to the head, they are unclear as to who her attacker was." He read on, "All six rooms of the house, including the bathroom which was where Missus Mason was found were turned upside down, suggesting robbery gone awry, however police are yet to find any signs of a break in."

"The all the rooms were trashed?" Maggie mused; Sam nodded in reply, looking down at the black and white picture of the young woman, her face aglow and happy, framed in an oval border printed at the bottom of the page,

"Could be a poltergeist." She offered, pursing her lips together in the way she often did when making a suggestion,

"Could be." Sam agreed, looking up from the newspaper,

"Where's the house?"

"Uh…Oakland Mane." The older hunter read of the page, before looking back up at his sister, who was biting her bottom lip anxiously, "What is it?"

"That's across the river isn't it?"

"Yeah…why?'

Maggie chuckled nervously, "We may have a slight problem…I'm afraid of boats."

"Ah." Sam tilted his head in acknowledgement,

"I kinda had a bad experience when I was a kid…" Maggie explained, pulling at the bottom of her sleeves, "…I went on a trip with my Mom, I fell off the deck…and went under the boat….haven't been on one since.

"God." Sam breathed in, looking at his sister with sympathetic eyes, slightly shocked by her revelation,

"Yeah." Maggie sighed, "Looks like you and Lola will be going at this one alone."

"I'm sure Dean's gonna love that." Sam scoffed,

"Nah, just give him some beer and some quarters for the 'magic fingers' and he'll be fine." Maggie replied, swatting a hand at the air in denial,

Sam laughed at her blaze action; he too knew that the way to Dean's good side was his stomach.

"I heard that." Dean's muffled voice spoke, barely audible as his head was buried deep in the soft cool pillow,

"Oh you're awake." Maggie said, looking up at her older brother,

"Yes and to be honest I'm slightly offended." He replied, lifting his head to look at his two siblings, "You make it sound like I'm an old fuddy-duddy who tells you what to do all the time."

Maggie pursed her lips together, biting back a retort, feeling guilty as she looked back at her Dean's gaunt face , his eyes puffy and red,

"So you're okay with me and Lola going on a hunt alone?" Sam asked sceptically,

"Do you really think that I can say anything to stop Lola from doing what she wants?"

"What are you going to stop me from doing?" The young huntress entered the room, throwing her fitted black leather jacket over the back of a nearby chair, scooping her auburn curls into a low bun, before sitting down on Dean's bed,

"I think we might have a job to do over in Oakland Mane." Sam explained,

"Demon?"

"Poltergeist."

"Awesome." Lola grinned, lying down next to Dean, kneeling on her elbow, resting her head on the palm of her hand,

"Maggie cant go though." Dean sniffed, his voice nasal and congested,

"Why not?" Lola asked tilting her head to the side so that she could look at Dean,

"She has a fear of boats." He replied simply,

Lola quickly shifted her gaze to the sheepish looking brunet, "Seriously?"

"Yep…I know, it sounds pathetic."

"No its not that." Lola reassured, "Its just that, what with your fear of boats, Sam's afraid of clowns and Dean's fear of flying, I just find it amazing that you guys are such good hunters."

"Well I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or…" Sam said, shifting awkwardly in his spot on the bed, eyebrows raised,

"I'm sorry but for such experienced hunters, you guys have a lot of hang-ups." Lola replied with an apologetic frown,

"Hey!" Dean whined in defence, "Look princess Lola, are you going to go on this hunt with Sam or not?"

"Right…sorry." She apologised, pulling herself up from the bed, rubbing at her elbow, which was now aching having laid on it for so long. Slapping his thighs, Sam jumped up from the bed opposite, causing Maggie's end of the mattress to dip,

The two friends pulled on their jackets, Lola walking towards back over to Dean, planting a kiss softly on his forehead, Sam grabbed the local paper before heading towards the door, "See you guys later." He called over his shoulder as he left the motel room, Lola followed closely behind, giving Maggie a sharp wave before pulling the door shut behind her.

A few hours and several mind numbing infomercials later, Maggie tossed the television remote onto the bed, her back aching having been lying on her front, propping her head up on her hands for so long, she heaved herself up onto her knees before swinging her legs round from under her to the edge of the bed. Rubbing her face in her hands, wiping away the fatigue in her eyes, the hazel eyed twenty something looked over to the bed next to her, once again Dean had fallen asleep, his hands tucked up under his head, legs stretched out in front of him.

Maggie smiled and shook her head despairingly at her brother before rising to her feet and making her way to the bathroom, She pulled down on the thin cord hanging from the ceiling, turning on the bright light, reaching her hand behind her, she pushed the door shut but was startled at the sound of it hitting what sounded like a hand, bouncing open again. Maggie spun round to see Dean standing in the doorway his face blank, his arm stretched out to the side, the sleeve of his ribbed cotton shirt, rolled up to his elbows as it held the door open,

"Dean, what are you doing?" Maggie chuckled with a puzzled frown, The older hunter stood in silence, holding his stance in the doorway,

"Helloo…" Maggie waved a hand in the air her eyebrows raised, becoming confused by her brother's attitude, "Uh, a little privacy, I need to pee."

Suddenly Dean slammed the bathroom door shut, causing his younger sister to jump as he moved towards her, his olive eyes fixing her with a stony gaze,

"Dean…what…" Maggie frowned as she edged away from him just as he grabbed her wrist, wrapping his thick fingers tightly around her slender wrist, her long white cotton sleeve providing no comfort against his harsh grip, Her hazel brown eyes looked up at her tall overbearing brother as he forced her back to the wall behind her, "Dean, you're hurting me." She said sternly, trying to pull away but only to have his grasp grow even tighter,

"You have such pretty hands." Dean finally spoke in a low tone,

"Okay." Maggie laughed nervously,

"So delicate…so fragile." He added, holding out her arm in front of her, Maggie's brow furrowed even deeper at her older brother's comment, "You know, there's a reason why people find it hard to believe that you're my sister." Dean continued, "You're so…different…I mean you're too pretty to be a Winchester, you must get your looks from your mom." His low quiet tone and piercing gaze sent shivers down Maggie's spine, as she felt her back meet the wall, intimidated by Dean's tall stature as he loomed over her, "Now there's a pretty lady, well until I shot her."

Those final words hit a nerve, a feeling of anger heightened by fear welled to the surface, Maggie thrust her knee up towards Dean's crotch but he jumped back just in time, dodging the hit. With his face creased into a furious frown he pulled his head back, before sending it on a collision course with his sister's face, Maggie's face head snapped back, smashing into a small mirror which was fixed to the white wall. Shards of glass showered over the girl's brunet waves as she fell to the floor, holding the back of her head in pain,

As she propped herself up, shaking with shock, Maggie twisted around on the floor in an attempt to drag herself away before slowly lifting up her head,

But as she did, Dean's heavy black boot flew towards her, causing her to fly back onto the hard floor tiling, Breathing heavily, her lip and nose bleeding, the stunned twenty something rolled back and forth on the floor in pain.

Dean parted his legs, either side of Maggie, then bending down he pinned her down under his knee, winding his younger sister as her chest tightened under his weight, tears of terror falling down her red hot cheeks,

His face harsh and stern, Dean grabbed a hold of Maggie's left arm, pulling down her sleeve he pressed it down on the cold hard floor. Before picking up a large shard of glass he drew a line of blood starting from her wrist and halfway down her arm.

Maggie now unable to scream silently moaned through gritted teeth through the excruciating pain. Suddenly, finding the smallest amount of courage from inside, she planted a fist right into Dean's jaw, then kicking him back, she scrambled for the door, She grabbed for the handle but her blood covered fingers could not get a grip. Just at that moment, Dean's heavy hand pushed her head against the door, using all his strength and weight made it impossible to move, "Shhhh…." It'll all be over soon." He soothed, brushing the hair from her face, before moving her right arm round to her back, he pressed the sharp glass deep into her skin.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

"Well that was surprisingly easy." Lola mused, closing the driver door of her shining black Chevy pick-up,

"Yeah apart from being stuck behind that grand piano." Sam replied, with a grunt,

"Hey while you where "suck" I did all the work." Lola replied, waving her hands around dramatically,

"Shooting holes in walls is not work, dodging objects whilst pinned to a wall however…."

"Look we got the job done didn't we…. you're just upset that I had to save your ass again." Lola sighed, giving Sam an innocent smile as she dug her hands into the back pocket of her jeans, pulling out the key of her's and Maggie's motel room, where they had left her and Dean a couple of hours ago.

When she opened the door both hunters where so surprised to see the room in darkness, Switching on the light, Sam scanned the open-plan space with a puzzled frown as he entered the room.

"Maggie…Dean?" Lola called, slightly worried by the fact that there was no sign of either of them,

"Dean." Sam echoed,

"What?"

Both Lola and Sam spun round to see Dean standing behind them, a large bag of tortilla chips in one hand, a can of coke in the other,

"Where have you been?" Lola asked with a confused frown,

"Vending machine, I was hungry." The shorthaired hunter replied simply,

"Where's Maggie?" Sam queried,

"She's in there." Dean answered, pointing over his brother's shoulder,

Feeling evermore confused, Sam turned on his heals, bending down and checking behind each bed, his mind whirring with worry, finally his gaze met the bathroom door which was closed, but upon further inspection a bright glow of the artificial light shone through the gap at the bottom of the door,

Nervously, Sam pushed down on the cool brass handle, opening the door slowly.

As soon as he had time to focus on what he was seeing a sick feeling of dread and horror crept up from the pit of his stomach, his heart jump into his mouth as his blood run cold, looking down at the large crimson pool of blood which his little sister lay in, sprawled out on the bathroom floor.

Sam stood in frozen shock, his emerald green eyes wide as they darted up and down her pale body, cringing at the sight of the long menacing gashes that led up her arm from her wrists.

"DEAN!" Finally his voice broke through the fear as he lunged towards Maggie, feeling at her neck for a pulse before taking her cold face in his hands,

"Maggie…Maggie wake up." He breathed, her deathly white skin sent chills down Sam's spine,

"Oh my God!" Lola gasped, bending down on her knees, the blood seeping through the denim of her jeans as she yanked a towel down from the marble surface surrounding the ceramic basin, trying desperately to remain calm, Lola applied pressure to deep wounds,

Finally Dean came rushing to the room, stopping short of the frame upon seeing the bloody mess, "I'll call an ambulance." He stammered before turning back to the main room,

Taking a deep breath, Dean calmly pressed 911 into the keypad on his phone, waiting patiently as the dull ring tone echoed in his ear before finally he got through and he put on his best performance of his life, false tears falling down his cheeks, "I need an ambulance, it's my sister…she's tried to commit suicide." The hunter lied with a chilling smirk.

"I cant believe this is happening…why would she do this?" Sam rested his elbows on the edge of the hospital bed, chewing on the tips of his fingers, trying to shake the image of his little sister sprawled out on the bloody bathroom floor, The steady beep of a heart monitor bounced off the four white walls of the private room,

"She wouldn't." Lola replied confidently, looking down sadly at her best friend lying fragile and still before her, the emotional red head stood to the left of Maggie, her arms folded as she shook with the intensity of the situation,

"Oh Maggie…" Sam whispered, "What happened to you." Tears welled in his eyes as he stroked aside a soft sweeping fringe away from the pale girls face, dark ground circles around her closed eyes, lips a cold shade of blue seemed to be the only colour against her porcelain skin.

"How's she doing?" Dean asked, emerging from the corridor,

"Still asleep, what did the doctor say?" Lola replied, her eyes meeting the gaze of his olive green orbs,

"Oh the usual medical schpeel." Dean replied, with a sigh she's stable and they want to keep her in for observation…oh and arrange for a psych evaluation."

"What?" Sam frowned,

"What the hell for?" Lola exclaimed, "I know Maggie, she wouldn't do this to herself."

"We don't know what happened, she was alone for at least ten minutes."

"No, we do know what happened!" Lola protested, "Some psycho son of a bitch did this to her, and I'll be damned if I' going to let a bunch of white coats wheel her away to a psychiatric ward!" Her voice raised with emotion in defence of her best friend, her face stern with certainty,

"Hey, hey it's okay." Dean soothed, pulling the young redhead into a hug, stroking the back of her hair, To Lola, this was a gesture to calm her down, but her head now tucked into his shoulder, she missed Dean's sly smirk that curled at the corner of his lips, Sam also missed this bad sign as he continued to look at his sister with concerned eyes.

A few hours later and Maggie was still fast asleep, knocked for six by the large dose of morphine that the nurse hand given a few minutes before,

Lola sat to the right of the bed, slouched back in a large imitation leather chair, reading the latest edition of Weekly World News, for lack of anything better to read. Dean stood by the window, a dark line of shadows traced across his face as the afternoon sun shone through the silver roman blinds,

Just at that moment, Sam entered the room, a drink of orange juice in his hand, Lola looked up from the elaborate newspaper, smiling weakly at the tall brunet as he handed her the plastic cup, "So, do you think that poltergeist is gone?" Sam finally asked, breaking the solemn silence,

"I guess we should go back and check it out." Lola mused, taking a sip of her juice before dropping the flimsy literature to the speckled blue flooring,

"Yeah I guess so…someone should stay here in case Maggie wakes up."

"I'll watch her." Dean offered almost immediately but once again the other didn't think anything of it, nodding in agreement, Lola rose to her feet, quickly finishing her drink before tossing the empty plastic into a long steel bin, "See you in a couple of hours." She smiled at Dean as he walked round to her place in the large seat beside Maggie's bed.

Pulling her black canvas bag over her head, the strap stretching across her chest, Lola followed Sam out the door, making their way down the long sterile white corridor.

Maggie's eyes stung with the bright artificial light that shone onto her face as her lids slowly opened, Licking her lips she felt drained an vulnerable as she took in the unfamiliar surroundings feeling slightly disorientated.

With great effort the young brunet tried to lift her pounding head, but with a groan and overwhelming exhaustion, let it fall back to the pillow,

"Take it easy there Mags'."

Maggie's eyes widened with surprise, her blood ran cold as she looked up to see Dean standing over her. Hyperventilating with panic she fumbled around the bed for the nurses call button which lay just out of her reach on the bed,

Dean rushed forwards, grabbing her arm, wrapping his fingers tightly around her bandaged wrist,

Maggie sucked in a deep breath, her hazel browns narrowed at cold gaze of her brother's olive greens, "Hel…" She was about to scream, but Dean snuffed it out with his hands, smothering her mouth with the palm of his hand,

"If you tell anyone what I did…I'll kill you." He hissed, his stern face inches away from Maggie's, before creasing his brow into a menacing frown as he pressed his thumb harshly against her wounded arm, With a whimper, Maggie closed her eyes tightly, warm tears fell down her cheeks as Dean continued to squeezed her wrist, "And next time I'll make sure I finish the job" The stone faced hunter growled, before finally releasing his violent grip, before leaning in, placing a kiss on the tip of Maggie's head, "Feel better sis." He smiled an eerie grin, a smile that sent shivers down the young girl's spine as she watched Dean leave the room.

Paralyzed by fear and pain, Maggie lay back in silence trying desperately to comprehend what had just happened, what was happening to her older brother.

"How are you doing?" Lola switched her gaze from the row of cars ahead, all parked in a line on the late night ferry back to the main land, She looked over at Sam, a sad and thoughtful expression on his face, his eyes barely visible behind his shaggy bangs, but Lola could tell from his silence that he was at the brink of breaking into tears, as she too had been feeling over the last couple of hours,

"Yeah…" He finally replied with a heavy sigh, "I just…I cant get it out of my head, seeing her like that."

"I know." Lola said sadly, the light shining above from the steel ceiling of the large boat, tinted her face with a soft glow as she sat back in the drivers seat of the Chevrolet pick-up, her sleek auburn curls were blown softly behind her shoulder by the cold breeze that seeped trough the crack at the top of the window,

"I never should have gone on that stupid hunt, I should have stayed with them."

"Sam don't…"

"It's true, I was so concerned with my boredom that I didn't see that Maggie needed me."

"She didn't need you Sam." Lola frowned, shocked that he was considering the possibility that Maggie had tried to kill herself, "She didn't need you because there's nothing wrong with her."

Sam shook his head in denial, continuing to look strait ahead, avoiding Lola's gaze,

"Think about it, after everything that's happened to her, she the strongest person I know, she wouldn't try to end her life like that, and you know why I know that…" The passionate red head continued, raising her voice as she shifted her gaze from the on coming cars, to her left, fixing him with her oceanic blues, "…she's the most selfless person that I've met, she wouldn't want to put you or Dean through the pain of knowing that she hated her life so much that she'd rather kill herself than talk to you." "She just wouldn't do it Sam!"

"Then who did!" He snapped, a whir of emotions brimming to the surface, "You're so sure that something or someone did this to her, so sure that she wasn't pushed to the edge by what I did to her when I had the brain tumour!"

"That's what you think!" Lola cut in, her eyebrows raised dumfounded by his comment, "Sam…she forgave you for that." Lowering her tone, she shook her head in disbelief, "And quite frankly I think you should be ashamed of yourself for even thinking that of her." Just then a low buzz of Sam's cell phone on silent came from his back pocket, with a sigh, the surly twenty something pulled his phone from the back of his jeans, holding it to his ear, "Hello…yes speaking…oh hi…that's great thank you…"

"What?" Lola mouthed, tapping Sam on the shoulder, wanting to know what was going on,

"It's the hospital, Maggie's awake." He replied, holding a hand over the phone as he spoke to her,

"Why are they calling you, where's Dean?" Lola frowned,

"Is my brother there?" Sam returned to the caller, a puzzled look on his face as he listened, "…okay thanks, I'll try and get a hold of him…right we'll be there as soon as we can." Hanging up the phone he held it to his lips in deep thought,

"What is it?" Lola asked,

"Dean isn't at the hospital, they said he left about twenty minutes ago." He replied, looking back at the red head with a confused frown,

"What the hell is going on today." Lola sighed, switching on the engine as the enormous steel slope, acting as a door, began its slow decent over the water until finally meeting the edge of the harbour.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

The holes in the teal coloured wool blurred into hazy lines, seeing double as the glassy tears altered her vision, the only break in the optical illusion came when she blinked, forcing the tears to form into a drop that trickled down her cheek. Silently and alone, Maggie sat up in the hospital bed, her mind which was a few minutes ago filled with all sorts of questions had now settled in a thoughtless blank, staring down at the standard issue blankets and sheets that covered her legs. Her arms fell gently onto her lap, cotton white bandages wrapped all the way down, over her palm tucked and fastened under her thumb, the white material almost camouflaged her pale skin, hiding the painful gashes that ran down in an almost perfect line.

As she sat in silence, she could hear two sets of footsteps approach her room, without lifting her gaze; they stopped in the doorway before stepping softly into the small room,

"Hey Mags'" Sam greeted his sister, pushing the discussion he and Lola had just had ten minutes before, to the back of his mind,

"Hey Sam." Maggie whispered, finally meeting his gaze, her hazel browns sparkling with the watery edge of tears,

"How are you feeling?" Lola asked sweetly, stroking her friend's shoulder, smiling weakly,

"Fine." She lied, licking her dry lips, avoiding the auburn haired girl's gaze,

"Maggie Tyler?" Just at that moment, a petite middle-aged woman entered the room, causing the three friends to lift their heads to the doorway,

"Yeah." The twenty two year old answered, her throat sore as she spoke,

"Hi my name is Talia Weaver, if its okay with you I'd like to have a talk with you." The soft spoken woman smiled, a black clip board and document folder tucked under her arm, Taking Maggie's small shrug of her shoulders as a reply, the raven haired doctor approached the bed, only to have Lola step in front of her, "Cant this wait till later, she's been through a lot." The red head looked the stranger up and down taking in her suited appearance noticing the badge that read 'psychiatric department', clipped onto the pocket of her pinstriped black blazer,

"That's why I'm here, I'm only here to talk." The forty-something reassured, flicking her curly black locks behind her shoulder as she pulled up a chair beside the bed, "Now Maggie, in you own words, can you tell me what happened last night?"

"Maybe we should wait down the hall." Sam suggested, moving towards the door, sensing the tension building between his hotheaded friend and the psychiatrist,

"No I want to stay, I'm not going to leave…"

"I did this to myself." Maggie suddenly blurted out, putting an end to Lola's defensive rant,

"Can you tell me why?" The female doctor asked carefully,

"I was…I've had enough with everything." The young brunet lied, her voice low and soft as she avoided the glances of her onlookers,

"Maggie…" Sam breathed, saddened by his sister's revelation, deep down he never really believed that she would do this to herself, he wanted so much to be proved wrong,

"I couldn't find any razors so I broke the mirror and…cut my arm." Tears rolled down her cheeks, although the account she was giving to the others was somewhat different, she couldn't help but re live the terrifying events over in her mind, unable to shake the cold unfeeling look on Dean's face,

"No…Maggie, I know you, tell me the truth who did this to you." Lola dismissed, her deep blue eyes defiant, "I know that no matter how bad things got, you would not do this to yourself,

"You don't know me, not really…" Maggie croaked, unable to look her in the eye, she didn't want to push her friend away but she knew it was the best thing, for both of them, terrified by the unpredictable state of mind that Dean was in,

"Please just go." She begged, sliding down into the covers, curling up into a defensive ball like a scared child,

"Maggie." Sam shook his head,

"Go!" Maggie snapped raising her voice,

Finally the well dressed doctor rose to her feet, aware that she had outstayed her welcome, she left the room, pausing before the door way, waiting for Sam and Lola to join her, leaving Maggie in an emotional mess.

"I think it may been prudent to put her on suicide watch, keep her in for a few more days." The doctor began, keeping her voice low so that Maggie could not hear, Lola on the other and was not so tactful,

"No…no way, you are not going to dumb her up with a load of drugs that are only going to make her worse!" Raising her voice, the hot headed twenty something jumped to her friend's defence,

"Lola." Sam tried to calm her down but was brushed aside again and again,

"Miss Griffyn try to understand…" Doctor Weaver interjected, "…your friend is obviously in a fragile and emotional state and very often in cases like hers, their state of mind can be unpredictable."

"I'll show you unpredictable." Lola spat, moving forward but only to be held back by Sam, "Maybe you should go back to the hotel, you haven't slept in hours." He suggested, "No I'm not going anywhere, Maggie needs me." Lola shook her head defiantly,

"I'm going to talk to her physician, see what he thinks would be the best course of action for miss Tyler." Doctor Weaver sighed, "But I will say, she's very lucky to have passionate friends looking out for her." And with that, the thirty something turned down the hall, the clock of her kitten heals echoing with every step, before turning the corner out of sight.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Lola finally began to calm down, she looked up at Sam who returned her glance with a concerned frown, keeping his distance knowing that the best thing to do was give Lola her space,

"I'm sorry Sam, but something's not right, she's hiding something." She sighed, frustrated and determined to get to the bottom of what was going on.

"I'm going to head back to the motel, see where Dean has got to." He replied, glancing back at his sister, still curled up on in her bed, before turning back to Lola, "Are you going to be okay to stay here with Maggie?"

The red head nodded in reply, smiling at Sam weakly before he made his way down the long corridor. Returning a wave to the tall hunter, Lola spun round and walked back into the small hospital room, sitting down next to Maggie on the soft mattress.

The young twenty something remained silent, her chocolate brown waves flattened and dull as they fell over the white cotton gown which gently covered her shoulders, Lola was about to break the silence with words of comfort when a familiar face stepped into the doorway, "Maggie?"

Both girls turned their heads towards the door, recognising the young doctor almost immediately,

"Hi I'm doctor Tom Woods, I treated your brother the other day."

"Yes of course, hi." Lola greeted, extending a hand to the male doctor who took it with a smile and a nod,

"I was going to call your brother when I saw your name on the board." Maggie looked down at her bandaged hands, unable to look the friendly doctor in the eye,

"Is your brother here?" The light hared medic asked, changing the subject having judged from the expression on Maggie's face that she did not want to talk about the reason for her being admitted,

"He went back to the hotel we're staying at." Lola informed, returning to her perch at the edge of the hospital bed,

"Well I have the results from his blood tests here and I wanted to discuss them with him."

"Why what's wrong?" The auburn haired huntress asked with a concerned frown,

"I can't really say, doctor/ patient confidentiality and all that."

"Well if you want me to call and get him back here, then you're going to have to tell me." Lola insisted sternly, the young doctor raised his eyes to the ceiling, slightly unnerved by the young woman's confidence, licking his lips before beginning his explanation,

"We have reason to believe that he has been poisoned as we found traces of sulphur in his blood…"

"Sulphur." Lola interrupted, her voice low and stern, "Are you sure?" Maggie finally said, looking at the doctor with a worried yet hopeful gaze, this meant that Dean really want himself, he really didn't want to kill her.

"Yes we ran the tests twice and I analyzed the sample myself just to be sure."

"Oh god." Lola breathed, holding a hand up to her forehead, rubbing the bridge of her nose before looking back up at the slim built man,

"Thank you doctor, I'll call him right now."

"Alright, but tell him he's going to have to come back in for further blood tests." Doctor Woods nodded, and with a feint smile he left the room,

"So that's why he did it." Maggie whispered to herself,

"Did what?…Maggie what is it?" Lola pressed, looking at her frail friend with a frown,

"Dean…he did this to me." The brunette finally revealed, looking up at Lola who looked back, her bright blues brimming with shock,

"…He said that if I told you he'd kill me, that's why I lied to you, Lola I'm sorry."

"It's okay…we just need to find him before…oh god."

"What?" Maggie frowned before realization hit,

"Sam." They both exclaimed in unison, before Lola jumped off the bed, snatching her bag from the floor, "Stay here okay, see if you can call Dean's cell…" She instructed, pausing in the doorway, "I'll call Sam from my truck."

"Right…be careful." Maggie called after her friend before picking up the receiver of the hospitals bedside phone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**:

Slamming the door shut, Lola turned the key in the ignition, with a screech of tires, she pulled out of the parking space on the top floor of the multi storey car park.

Her heart beat racing, Lola fumbled at the keypad of her cell phone, but in the intensity of the moment, the black Samsung slipped through her head, landing on the floor under the passenger seat. As she bent down to retrieve the phone, the quiet tone of Papa Roach's Getting away with murder, sounded from the back seat, Lifting her gaze, Lola's eyes widened with shock, Looking back at her in the rear view mirror was the cold stony gaze of Dean's olive greens.

She was about to cry out but the older hunter's rough hands smothered her shouts, His grip tightening around Lola's mouth, Dean breathed heavily down the back of her neck, making the hairs stand on end. With the shock of the ambush, Lola lost control of the truck, her knuckles turning white as she desperately tried to steady the car. But her efforts were in vain, as the Chevy collided sideways with a concrete post at full speed,

A few seconds later, Dean slid out of his seat, seemingly unscathed from the crash apart from a thin trickle of blood that ran down from his hairline,

Lola however was slumped unconsciously over the onto the front passenger seat, when Dean opened the door, and with a heave, his face blank and emotionless, pulled the battered and bruised twenty something out of the cab.

The furrow on his brow deepened, beads of sweat collecting over his forehead as he sat on his heals, his knees aching having been leaning on them for the past hour.

Sam had all but given up on his attempt at loosening the binds that were wrapped around his wrists and ankles. A sour expression on his face, the shaggy haired brunet glanced over to the motel window, on looking the parking lot, as a set of bright headlight shone though the glass, the sound of the Impala's engine rumbled outside the room, followed by the sound of the murmur of a low gruff voice arguing with a female's high pitched tone. A few seconds later the door of the seventies style motel swung open,

"Get in!" Dean's low tone growled from the door way, where Lola was pushed through, stumbling into the room with a furious scowl, her deep blue eyes rimed with red circles as she looked over at Sam, clutching at her left arm she cringed when Dean brushed past her side, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Sit." He ordered, pointing to the floor next to Sam. The porcelain-skinned girl stood defiant, looking back at Dean with narrowed eyes, "I said…sit." The elder hunter hissed, pushing Lola down with his heavy hand, before crouching down and tying up her ankles, the rope creasing around the seam of her dark jeans. "There, now I know you wont be moving your pretty little ass anywhere." A sly smirk stretched across his face as he tilted his head to the side, as he looked into Lola's sapphire eyes, "You know, I should have shot you when I had the chance, when I first met you…" He sighed, stroking her face before she snapped it back out of his reach, "But then who would I have to satisfy my, manly needs?"

"I'm sure you could find some blonde bimbo from your little black book." Lola replied, her tone dead pan a look of irritation mixed with pain, looking down at her lower arm, the bone protruding under her skin, The force of the crash a few hours ago had crushed her arm so that it had broken a bone,

Sam looked at his brother with a suspicious frown as a creepy grin spread across Dean's face, before he lifted Lola over his shoulder in a fireman's lift,

"What the hell Dean let me go DEAN!" Lola yelled, as the large hunter carried her over to the adjoining room before kicking the door shut behind him with his boot. Leaving Sam behind, listening in horror to Dean's spine chilling shouts, Lola's heart wrenching cries. "STOP SCREAMING!"

A few horrifying minutes later, a sickeningly satisfied Dean emerged from the bedroom, fastening his belt as he walked through to the kitchen,

"Where's Lola?" Sam asked sternly,

"Oh don't worry, she's just sleeping it off." A smug Dean replied with a smirk as he bent down to retrieve two beers from the small fridge, before looking back up at his younger brother, "Aww don't look at me like that Sammy…" He said, seeing the look of utter disgust on his face, pulling up a chair next to him, "I'm a red blooded man, I've got needs." Swinging a leg round the chair, he sat down on the seat, resting his arms on the back. Flicking the bottle cap at the adjacent wall before holding the bottle out to Sam, "Beer?..Nope…okay." He shrugged, taking a swig for himself,

"You son of a bitch." The younger brother growled, causing Dean to freeze, mid-sip before landing a fist right into Sam's jaw,

"Don't talk about your mom like that, she's my momma too." He said dryly, pointing a finger at him like a naughty child,

"Oh come on Sam, I'm not stupid…Lola's a pretty girl, you're not telling me that you wouldn't have her if you had the chance?" The cocky hunter rose to his feet, standing before Sam, "You don't think I haven't seen you looking? Checking her out?"

Sam looked back at Dean, scowling and frowning at his bitter words,

"You're sick." He breathed, looking up at his brother's steely greens,

"You can look all you want Sam, But you can't have her." Dean continued, ignoring his brother's statement, "I mean…what would Jess say?" Sam's eyes narrowed at that harsh, spiteful comment "She's mine." He stated, before striking his large heavy fist right into Sam's eye, knocking him out cold.

Slowly, Sam finally found his way out of the darkness, his head pounding as he opened his eyes. Squinting through the pain he looked around the room, for a moment he thought that he was alone, a chance to escape. This was until his eyes met the gaze of his brother, sat on the single bed next to him,

"What the hell did you do to her?" Sam asked, his tone low and stern, watching with wary eyes as Dean walked over to where he was still tied up,

"I thought dad gave you the birds and the bees talk when you where twelve Sammy?"

"I mean her arm, it looks broken."

"Oh…" Dean drawled, eyebrows raised, realizing his mistake, "…Yeah we crashed into a post on the way here." He explained as he propped himself on the edge of the bed, This blasé reply caused Sam to frown, growing more and more disgusted and angered by his brother's behaviour,

"Hey its not my fault that she's a bad driver." Dean held his hands up in defence,

"You're unbelievable." Sam scowled, "It's nice to see you got out of it without a scratch."

"Without a scratch…you kidding me?" Dean exclaimed, turning to the side, hitching up his black top, revealing a large purple bruise creeping up the side of his back, "But you see, Sammy…" The older sibling trailed off, "With this new blood of mine, shall we say, I don't feel a thing." He smiled, holding his hands out to the side.

Sam could no long look at Dean's smug face, dropping his gaze yet again down to the floor, he swallowed hard, an over whelming sense of anger and frustration welled up inside. Clapping and rubbing his hands together, Dean jumped up and returned to the adjoining bedroom.

A few minutes later, Lola's slim figure, now bruised and paler than her usual soft porcelain tone, was pushed back into the main room,

"Take a seat next to Sammy, I'm sure you must be tired…" Dean ushered gently, his voice eerily calm. Outwardly a shell of her feisty former self, Lola threw him a venomous look over her shoulder as she walked awkwardly, supporting her wrist, towards Sam,

"I'm sorry gorgeous…I'm gonna have to tie you up now." Dean soothed easing her down onto the floor, seeming oblivious to the emotional pain that he had caused only a few moments ago. Dean crouched down before the young huntress, her bright blue eyes now red and puffy, her cheeks stained with tears, "Don't worry…there's nothing in it." He shook his head gently, holding a thumb to Lola's chin. To Dean he saw this as an affectionate gesture, but for Lola, it sent chills down her spine, "Although I'm sure Sammy would love there to be more to it." Dean added as he rose to his feet, retrieving a rope from his trademark green duffle bag before leaning down to tie the course rope around Lola's feet and across her chest, pining her arms to her sides,

"Are you okay?" Sam whispered,

"Uh uh! No talking." Dean scolded, "I've got to ask…who's better? Me? Or Trey…?"

His question made Lola's blood run cold as she kept her eyes to the floor, but was soon forced to look up into his cold glare as Dean grabbed her chin, tilting her head upwards to look him in the eye,

"I'm waiting." He said, voice rising as he grit his teeth menacingly. His grip was so tight upon her face that she could barely move her jaw, though steeling herself through the pain and fear she managed to mutter her answer, fixing him with a cold stare,

"Trey."

With an insulted frown on his face, Dean released his grip on her jaw with a snap. Before she had a chance to regain feeling in her face, the back of Dean's hand came flying into her cheek, sending her backwards onto the hard floor with a sickening thud,

"Dean!" Sam yelled, looking at him with a furious frown until he too was hit by his brother's hand,

"Y'know…Dad was right…" Dean began, rising to his feet, reaching round behind his back, "I will have to kill you." Looking down at his younger brother, Dean pulled out his handgun, aiming it at Sam's head. Swallowing hard, Sam stared down the barrel of the gun. Opening her eyes in time to see the scene unfold, Lola attempted to sit up,

"Dean. Don't." She spoke finally, her voice cracking with emotion, "I don't know how it happened, but you've been infected with a demonic virus. You don't want to do this." She rationalised with Dean but he simply stared back, uncaring and unfazed by Lola's revelation,

"From the moment you were born, I knew you would be in the way." Dean hissed, staring down at his younger brother, "My whole life, it's always been about you. Mom died because she was protecting you. Dad telling me to look out for you. Even when you were at your worst and hurting people, I've got to chase after you. Stop you. Save you." Bitter tears began to well in Dean's eyes. Sam watched as his older brother stood before him, speaking his heartbreaking, harsh words, "Well y'know what?" Dean continued, "I'm done. I'm done with putting my life on hold for you. I've had it. I hate you. I HATE YOU!" He bellowed, his voice so loud Sam jumped slightly, more from Dean's hurtful words than anything else, "I'm done." The shorthaired hunter whispered, cocking his gun as a single tear rolled down his cheek. Sam closed his eyes tightly, turning his head away in preparation, but they sprang open as the door to the motel burst open. In a flurry of adrenaline and fear, Maggie entered the room, brandishing her gun, "Magster! Wow…it's like a family reunion."

"Yeah…but your attempt at a good host really blows."

"So what are you gonna do, Maggie? Huh? You gonna shoot your own brother?"

"No." Maggie replied simply, tossing her gun onto the floor before straitening up in a confident stance,

"Awh…is Maggie gonna put up her dukes?" He asked in a taunting fashion,

"Bring it on, bitch." Maggie replied, arching one eyebrow,

"Ooh…meow!" Dean remarked sarcastically, "Don't worry…I'll go easy on you…seeing as you're my little sis'."

Dean's smug words were interrupted as Maggie threw her fist into his nose, causing it to bleed. Almost impressed with his sister's affront confidence, he smirked before launching at her, only to swipe at the air as she ducked down, thrusting a fist upwards into his abdomen. Winding him, she jumped up as he recovered, bringing a swift elbow down onto his back, forcing him to the floor. He looked up, red in the face, just before grabbing her ankle to pull her from her feet. He lunged at her, pining her shoulders down with his heavy hands. With a little growl of determination, Maggie head butted him then pushed him back with a booted foot to his chest. Dean rolled backwards off of her as Maggie jumped up, following him quickly as she pulled a knife out of it's holster, attached to her belt. Without hesitation, she brought it down fast into his shoulder, taking care not to damage any organs or vital arteries. Before he could protest, she had unscrewed her silver canister, pouring it's entire contents of holy water onto the open wound,

"You BITCH!" Dean growled through the pain, breathing heavily. Maggie balanced on her knees, tilting her head to the side; she gave a small, triumphant smile,

"Nighty night." She chirped, before landing a final punch, knocking Dean out cold.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

"Hey."

"Hey." Maggie glanced up from her large pink and black duffle bag. Dean stood next to her, returning her gaze with a sorrowful, awkward look, watching his younger sister as she packed folded t-shirts and jeans into the bag which sat on top of the same motel bed which he had woken in a few hours ago. Although his skin no longer felt as if it were burning, the throbbing ache in his head had subsided and finally everything had become clearer, but along with this clarity came realisation, even flashbacks to what he had put everyone through. He felt sick at the thought of it as he looked down at the long winding bandages that covered the lower part of both of Maggie's arms and hands,

"I'm gonna go back home for a few weeks." Maggie said, her voice low and quite as she kept her eyes to her bag, intent on finishing the task in hand. Dean sighed, so often had he gone through something alone, keeping his 'game face' on, a master at putting forward the pretence that he was okay. But today was different, he felt horrified and disgusted at his actions over the last twenty-four hours,

"Do you want me to drive you there?"

"Thanks. I called a cab." Hauling the heavy bag off of the bed, the young brunette answered quickly, turning her back to her brother. This action would've hidden her tears, but she'd shed so many over the last thirty-eight hours, she no longer had the energy to cry anymore,

"Maggie, I'm sorry." Dean said just as the emotionally exhausted young women opened the door to the motel room, causing her to pause as she did so. Slowly turning back to meet the gaze of her older brother, as she looked up at his green orbs, his expressions softer, resembling her big brother again. She couldn't help but still feel a sharp pain of mistrust as an uncomfortable silence filled the small room, "It wasn't…" Dean began but was interrupted by Maggie,

"I know." She said, her eyes glassy with tears, forcing a weak smile in an effort to reassure her brother, "I just…after everything that's happened. I need some time."

Dropping his gaze to the floor in acceptance, Dean swallowed back tears of regret, before looking back up at his sister's glassy hazel orbs, just as the muffled sound of the car horn beeped from outside. "Call me when you get there, okay?"

Maggie nodded in agreement,

"Take care of yourselves." She said softly over her shoulder, before shutting the door behind her.

Letting out a deep sigh, Dean turned to face the empty room. As he crossed the cheap, carpeted floor his eyes spotted three small, dark red boxes, sat in a row on the narrow single bed. With a puzzled frown, he tilted his head, reading the black handwriting; one read 'Sam', the other 'Lola' and the last 'Dean'. Sitting down on the soft mattress, Dean picked up his box, placing it on his lap before lifting the lid with both hands, parting the thin layer of black tissue paper. Tears began to well in his eyes as looking up at him from inside the black chrome frame was a glossy photograph of Lola, pouting as she pointed to the corner of her mouth, sat in a brightly colour diner booth. Dean chuckled as he looked down at the image, smiling at his own face, cheeks puffed and stained with ketchup as he mimicked Lola, his eyebrows raised as the freeze frame caught him trying to clean his face. It wasn't until he saw Maggie's happy, smiling face, the photo capturing her laughing with Sam as they revelled in his messy misfortune. Exhaling loudly, an attempt to steady his nerves, Dean lifted the photo out of it's box, revealing a small piece of paper underneath it; '_For my awesome big brother x_'. Scrunching his face with self-loathing, Dean set the photo aside, burying his face deep in his hands, rubbing at his temples to sooth his pounding headache hat had rooted from guilt. Finally, looking up at a lonely space in front of him, Dean let out a heavy sigh, sniffing back tears that fell down his cheeks,

"I'm sorry."

Looking down at her freshly plastered arm, Lola crossed the gravel parking lot of the motel. The sound of car doors shutting caused her to look up just in time to see Maggie tossing her bag into the boot of a white cab,

"Maggie!" She called, quickening her pace as she moved towards her friend, "Where're you going?"

"Back home. I need to get away for awhile."

"I know what Dean did was bad, believe me…I know, but…you can't leave him, Maggie. He feels bad enough about it as it is."

"I'm not going because of Dean…well not entirely at least…I've been wanting to go home for awhile, this has just given me an extra push." She smiled weakly,

"Yeah…but Maggie…"

"I would've thought you'd understand. You of all people understand the need to get away."

"I guess so…just promise me you'll call."

"Hey…that's my line!"

Lola suddenly leant forwards, hugging her best friend as tight as humanly possible, burying her face in her hair,

"Come back soon Magpie."

"Will do Lollypop." Maggie said as she released the red head, climbing into the back of the cab. Waving after the white vehicle as it vanished into a cloud of dust, Lola turned to walk back to the motel until she spotted Dean sitting on the bonnet of the Impala, a six-pack of beers at his feet, "Can I join you with those?" She asked quietly. Dean handed her the bottle he had just opened before reaching down to pluck another bottle by the neck from the plastic grocery bag on the ground. Twisting round slightly, he retrieved Lola's box from behind him,

"Maggie left this for you." He said sadly, handing her the red cardboard box,

"Uh…no hands." She said simply, holding up her plastered arm and the beer bottle in her good hand,

"Sorry."

"I'll look at it later."

"Are we gonna be okay?"

"…yeah. I was gonna leave but…I guess…hearing three little words isn't the be all and end all of all things." She looked into his sad, watery eyes before shifting her glance back to the sunset that lay before them,

"I'll be back in a second." He suddenly said, standing and walking off to his motel room, leaving Lola with a puzzled frown, even more confused when he returned with a pen. Without a word, he took her broken arm gently into his hand. Pausing mid-sip, Lola looked down warily as Dean scribbled onto her cast until he stepped away, popping back onto the bonnet of the car, taking a long swig of his beer. With a confused shake of her head, Lola looked down to see what he had written, her eyes softening at the words 'I love you' written in Dean's messy handwriting across her cast,

"You don't have to say that because you feel guilty about what happened. You don't have to make it up to me, Dean…"

"But I do." He said softly, "I do mean it, and I'm sorry that it's taken something like this to make me finally say it. And that's why I couldn't bring myself to say it when Sam had that gun to your head. I didn't want the first time you hear me say it to be something bad. I never wanted you to remember me for the bad things."

Tentatively, Lola rested her head against his shoulder,

"I love you too." She whispered, glancing up quickly to look him in the eyes. He smiled back; relieved that she still felt the same way after everything that had happened between them.


End file.
